DIR. Jack Arnold
YEAR. 1953
COUNTRY. U.S.A
RUN-TIME. 81 mins
RATING. PG
£6.00 (£4.50 conc.)
Doors 7.00PM
Film 7.30PM
This is the story of John Putnam who witnesses an alien ship accidentally crash land in the desert. John struggles to convince the rest of his small town that what fell was an alien ship and that they are not here to harm. The police in It Came from Outer Space are represented as passion-driven aggressors, John, on the other hand, is represented as an outsider who is sympathetic to the aliens cause and for this he is alienated by society, reflective of the Hollywood blacklisting that was going on at the time.
The films conclusion suggests that if cooperation is not possible, complete segregation is best. The aliens, who are represented as intellectually superior to the human race, suggest to John, “let us stay apart, the people of your world and ours, for if we come together there will only be destruction”. The possibility for future communication is left open as a sign of hope at the end as John states “it wasn’t the right time for us to meet, but there’ll be other nights, other stars for us to watch”. Like many films in this season, it is ambiguous whether its sentiment is anti-communist or anti-McCarthyist, you can make your own mind up!
“An eerie, unusual science fiction story.”
Is This Yesterday?! comprises a series of Hollywood Science Fiction films from the 1950’s. The films in this season aim to give a broad reflection of the general psyche in America at this specific time. The films explore issues of invasion, atomic power and the progressing relationship between science and the military, the red threat and McCarthyism. The films selected vary in their moral and political standpoint, from the drastically conservative to the ideologically liberal.